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MacArthur, Robert Helmer (1930–1972)| Canadian-born US ecologist who did much to change ecology from a descriptive discipline to a quantitative, predictive science. For example, his index of vegetational complexity (foliage height diversity) of 1961 made it possible to compare habitats and predict the diversity of their species in a definite equation. |
| MacArthur was born in Toronto and studied in the USA at Brown University and Yale. From 1965 he was professor of biology at Princeton. |
| He studied the relationship between five species of warbler that coexist in the New England forests; these species are now known as MacArthur's warblers. |
| Investigating population biology, MacArthur examined how the diversity and relative abundance of species fluctuate over time and how species evolve. In particular, he managed to quantify some of the factors involved in the ecological relationships between species. |
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